SUMMARYOFTHEPLANNINGUNITCOMPONENT AscancerandCVDarerapidlyincreasingitsdiseaseburdeninSouthAmerica,thereisan urgentneedtoimprovetheirpreventionandcontrolstrategies,informedbyhighquality research.Unfortunately,thedearthofadequatepopulation?baseddataaswellasthelimited researchinfrastructureandfunding,challengeNCDresearch,andparticularlycancerresearch effortsintheregion.Since2010,CESCASandCRONICAShaveassembledtwopopulation?based prospectivecohortsformerlyfundedbyNIH/NHLBIuntil2014?2015.Thesecohortsrecruitedat baseline~11000adultsrandomlysampledfromthegeneralpopulationfromfourcitiesin Argentina,ChileandUruguay,andthreecitiesinPeru,respectively.Thestudiesweredesigned toestimatetheprevalenceaswellasthelongtermincidenceofcardio?metabolicdiseasesand theirriskfactorsinadultswithoutCVDatbaselineLeveragedawell?developedresearch infrastructure,thecentersofArgentinaandPeruaimtoexpandtheirresearchcapacityin cardiovascularepidemiologytowardscancerepidemiology,byjoiningthedivisionof PopulationScienceofDFCI.Wewilldevelopapopulation?basedcancerandCVDresearch programbasedonourpreviousworkperformedbythecentersofArgentinaandPeruthrough theirrespectiveprospectivecohortstudiesinArgentina,Chile,UruguayandPeru,respectively. Byintegratingthesetwoprogramswewillbeabletoidentifycommonriskfactorsandcausal pathwaysthatmayinfluencethedevelopmentofbothCVDandcancerinSouthAmerica.In addition,wewillperformajoinpilotprojectfocusedonthegeo?mappingofprevalence, incidenceandmortalityusingGIStechnology,forGallbladderandGastricCancer.Bothcancers havehigherincidenceinSouthAmerica,comparedtotherestoftheworld.SACRENwillalso developresearchenhancementactivitiesfocusedonlearningspecificknowledgeandskills, includinghands?onpracticeandmentoring,aimedatstrengtheningtheabilitiesofearly?stage researchersandresearchsupportstaff.Finally,weaimtoidentifythesharedcorefacilities eachpartnerwillcontributetoSACRENtosupportitsresearchprojects,suchasdata managementandanalysis,biobankshandling,andcommunicationplatforms,exploring mechanismstoshareinfrastructureandresourcestoavoidduplicationandredundancies,and definingexplicitlytherulesandregulationsforitscommonuse.